forage plants in New Mexico and Arizona, being prized for fatten- 

 ing sheep. Its specific name fendleriana is in honor of August Fend- 

 ler (1813-83). 



This species ranges from southeastern British Columbia to Manitoba, 

 western South Dakota, Colorado, western Texas, northern Mexico, 

 California, and Idaho. It has been reported from eastern Washing- 

 ton, but the record is very doubtful. In New Mexico and other 

 parts of the Southwest this tufted perennial is probably the only 

 native species of bluegrass sufficiently abundant to be of much range 

 value. In the southern parts of its range this bunchgrass usually 

 grows at higher elevations, but does not appear on the lower slopes 

 and mesas, where the summers are too hot and dry for bluegrasses. 

 However, throughout its more northerly range it frequently occurs 

 on the foothills and lower slopes, usually intermixed with needle- 

 grasses, bromes, pentstemons, sagebrush, and sedges. 



Muttongrass grows typically from the pifion-juniper belt, through 

 the ponderosa pine and aspen types, to the Engelmann spruce-lodge- 

 pole pine zone, and reaches a maximum elevation of about 7,000 feet 

 in Montana and Idaho, 10,000 feet in Utah, and 12,000 feet in Colo- 

 rado. It appears chiefly on ridges and slopes and in open timbered 

 areas and well-drained parks and meadows. Although this grass 

 grows most commonly on well-drained, rich clay loams, it also in- 

 habits drier, less fertile, shallow, gravelly or sandy soils on open hill- 

 sides, where it frequently becomes abundant. This species, like 

 Sandberg bluegrass (Po& secunda, syn. P. sandbergrii) is one of the 

 most drought-resistant of the bluegrasses and, because of its deep 

 fibrous root system, it frequently is an effective barrier against ero- 

 sion. Germination tests have shown that the seeds of muttongrass 

 are of low viability, which doubtless partly accounts for its failure 

 thus far in artificial range reseeding experiments. 1 



This bluegrass, which starts growth during the warm days of 

 late winter and early spring, is ready for grazing in advance of most 

 other range forage plants. During early spring, it is particularly 

 relished by all classes of domestic livestock. It rates as excellent 

 forage for cattle and horses, and good for sheep, elk, and deer, de- 

 spite that its palatability decreases somewhat at maturity, when the 

 foliage becomes rather harsh and dry. Cattle and horses relish the 

 plant and sheep eat considerable quantities throughout the entire 

 summer. During the fall both cattle and horses eat the air-cured 

 foliage, more tender and succulent forage being scarce. 



Muttongrass, a perennial, is strictly a bunchgrass, varying from small tufts 

 composed of a few stalks to dense tussocks a foot or more in diameter. The 

 species is unusual among range grasses in that the male and female spikelets 

 are generally borne on separate plants (dioecious). However, the female 

 spikelets have only minute, non-functioning stamens. Muttongrass has no 

 underground rootstocks, although the stems are often bent and more or less 

 prostrate at the base, frequently resembling a short rootstock. This stooling 

 characteristic governs the size of the individual tufts and facilitates reproduc- 

 tion and spread. This grass flowers from April to June, and matures seed from 

 May to July, depending upon the locality and elevation. 



1 Forsling, C. L., and Dayton, W. A. ARTIFICIAL RESEEDING ON WESTERN MOUNTAIN 

 BANGE LANDS. U. S. Dept. Agr. Circ. 178, 48 pp., illus. 1931. 



